Ensuring consumer confidence a top priority for farmers, conference hears

Farmers are threatened by radical animal welfare activists, as well as consumers who are uncertain about how humanely livestock and poultry are raised, speakers and participants at an agriculture conference say.

“We have to start telling our side of the story to the public,” more than one delegate urged during the wrap up session of the Feeding a Hungry World: A Summit for Animal Agriculture conference in Ottawa on Oct. 18.

Failing to communicate could results in governments imposing severe restrictions on farm animal production at a time when the world’s need for food is rising, delegates said.

More than 150 farmers, veterinarians, academics and food industry representatives attended the conference.

David McInnes, president and CEO of the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute, said the public doesn’t know whether it can trust farmers “to do the right thing” with their animals.

“Society’s expectations are rising and how are we going to respond?” he asked.

While animal welfare activist will always be adversaries, consumers are looking for assurances that the food system is operating in a responsible manner, McInnes said.

“We need a more productive dialogue on behalf of animal agriculture,” he said. “We need powerful, personal messages from farmers to consumers about the issues they’re concerned with.”

Charlie Arnot, CEO of the U.S. Center for Food Integrity, said greater government regulation is a threat for farmers, but there is a bigger threat in the market place if consumers lose confidence in animal products.

The public has to be engaged in a discussion on what constitutes sustainable agriculture so they understand what farmers are doing to ensure that the farms of today will be capable of producing food into the future, he said.

Since the 1950s, farmers have increased production with better genetics and practices so they can feed three times as many people with half as many farms. Today’s farm has far less impact on the environment than one would have 60 years ago, Arnot said.

“We have to connect the dots to help them understand the benefits to society to produce more food on less land,” Arnot said. “We have to tell them about the incredible improvement in productivity.”

As the world’s population reaches nine billion by 2050, we will have to produce 100 per cent more food than we do today, he continued.

“Currently, we’re increasing production by 1.4 per cent a year, but that doesn’t keep up with population growth of 1.75 per cent,” Arnot said. “If we don’t catch up, 300 million people will have nothing to eat by 2050.”

Ron Aukerman, president of U.S. operations for Elanco Animal Health, said his company has evolved into a food company in recognition of how its products improve the efficiency of farmers.

The world’s No. 1 problem is a lack of food, he noted.

“Food shortages kill more people than war, AIDs, malaria and TB combined,” Aukerman said. “There’re more than 25,000 deaths worldwide from hunger every year.”

John Kennelly, dean of the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Alberta, said raising livestock and poultry has a future in feeding the world.

“But we need a mechanism for creating consumer trust in us,” Kennelly said. “We need to speak with a single voice.”

But, he noted, finding that voice can be difficult when there are more than 27 farmer groups in Canada.